Qatar’s Trailblazers |
INVESTING IN
THE FUTURE
Aspire Academy was established to discover
and develop the very best Qatari sports men
and women – including football players. The
programme has generated promising results.
Qatar won the AFC U-19 Championship in
Myanmar in 2014 and qualified for the FIFA
U-20 World Cup in New Zealand in 2015.
All players were past or current students of
Aspire Academy.
T
o many a youngster, it would surely be a dream
job. Mansoor Al Ansari is General Secretary of the
Qatar Football Association. And while his role requires
him to establish and maintain good relations with the
global football fraternity, it is young people he seeks to
inspire.
He explains: “Our emphasis on youth development stems
from our strategy which is to develop successful national
teams across all levels, specifically the youth as they will
be the team that will participate in the 2022 World Cup.”
Developing a talented team for the 2022 World Cup
is of course his key objective – and one that he hopes
will see the national football team become the pride of
Qatar.
He says: “Our goal is for our national teams to perform
well at all the competitions with the aspiration of
qualifying for all major tournaments such as the FIFA
World Cups and winning the continental and regional
competitions.
“We have great facilities for our youth players at
the Aspire Academy, excellent coaches, outstanding
education programmes, and we organise various friendly
matches, all with the aim of developing youth and senior
teams so they can compete at the highest level.”
He maintains that despite not qualifying for the 2018
World Cup in Russia, Qatar’s national football team will
be ready for its own tournament.
“We are certain that our national team will play to the
best of their abilities during the 2022 World Cup,” he
says. “After all, they will be representing their country
as Qatar hosts the biggest football event on the planet.
“We are on the right track with our team development
45